The blog of fantasy author Shanna Swendson. Read about my adventures in publishing and occasionally life.

Wednesday, March 29, 2017

Now I've Arrived

I’m getting a late and sluggish start this morning, thanks to the thunderstorms that went through just before 3 this morning. My weather radio woke me up at about 2:15. I couldn’t hear what it was saying, so I picked up my tablet and checked Twitter, where I follow the National Weather Service and several local meteorologists, and saw that there was a tornado warning that didn’t include me, but that was heading in my direction. I turned on the TV to get the storm coverage, saw what was going on, and decided it might be a good idea to get dressed and put shoes on. I got everything ready for hitting my “safe place,” but then the warning expired before it got to me, the storm solidified into a solid line, and it went through in about ten minutes. Apparently it got nasty again because there was serious damage east of me, but it wasn’t too bad here, as far as I can tell. When I finally let myself go back to bed, it took me forever to fall asleep again.

Even aside from the storms, yesterday was a pretty eventful day. The book went up for pre-order, but I also got a lot of other book news. It seems that the e-book of the first Enchanted, Inc. book is currently available for 99 cents, so if you want a Kindle copy to supplement your paper copy, if you haven’t tried that series, or if there’s someone you’re trying to hook, now would be the time. I don’t know how long it will last.

But the really cool thing is that a high school classmate sent me a picture on Facebook of the Scholastic book order form he was passing out to his students — that had Rebel Mechanics on it! Now I feel like I’ve really arrived. Those book orders were a major part of my childhood. The day we got the order form was so exciting, and I spent quite a bit of time poring over it, trying to decide which books I wanted (since “all” wasn’t an option). I would try to be strategic with my order, finding a way to stay within my budget and still order enough stuff to get the free poster. My walls were covered with those free posters. The day the book orders came in was like Christmas. The box would be on the teacher’s desk, and there was much anticipation while she sorted things out and then passed the books out. Then there was the anticipation of getting home and being able to dig into my new books. I’d say that most of the middle grade and YA books I own came from Scholastic orders. It gives me shivers to think that other kids are out there, looking at those forms now, and trying to decide whether or not to get my book (get it!).

I think this is one reason I like ordering from Amazon. It’s a way to replicate that experience, only the catalog is much bigger. There’s still the fun of trying to order enough stuff to get free shipping (rather than a poster of a puppy), and then there’s the happy day when the box arrives.